Crown of Midnight

Crown of Midnight illustrates the complexities of honesty and deception, blurring the line with the characters’ sympathetic motivations. For her own safety, Celaena conceals her true identity—the Lost Queen of Terrasen—and her Fae lineage. She knows the king would execute her if he learned the truth, so she hides for as long as possible. Celaena also lies to the king about killing her assigned targets; in truth, she stages their deaths and forges proof that she killed them to earn the king’s trust. She deceives her friends in the same way, for “they [have] to believe the lies, too. For their own safety” (20). Celaena lies to protect herself, her friends, and the targets she saves from the scrutiny of an evil king.

Eventually, she reveals her actions to Nehemia and Chaol. Nehemia doesn’t seem shocked to hear that Celaena saved her targets, and this honesty deepens their friendship and strengthens their bond of trust. Thus, when Celaena discovers that “Nehemia and Archer led the group to which Davis had belonged” (278), she feels betrayed because “Nehemia had promised. Promised that there would be no more secrets between them. Promised and lied. Promised and deceived her” (278). Despite her own lies and secrets, Celaena is shocked and deeply hurt to learn of Nehemia’s deception. She’s discovered the truth, but at the cost of her trust in Nehemia.

Similarly, Celaena hides her knowledge of the Wyrdgate and Wyrdkeys from Chaol until he convinces the king to send her to Wendlyn. As they stand on the docks before she leaves, Celaena says to Chaol, “If you hadn’t convinced the king to send me away, we could have … figured them out together. But now…” (413). Again, Celaena deceives a loved one to protect them. Consequently, she forces Chaol to send her away where he can’t help her; her too-late confession traps him with a king he finally sees is evil. Celaena never verbally confesses her identity to Chaol. Instead, she gives him a hint before she leaves, and he follows the clues until he learns the truth—that Celaena is the Lost Queen, and thus a major threat to the kingdom. Celaena has finally been honest with Chaol (albeit indirectly), but this truth pushes them further apart than her deception did.

Unsurprisingly, the antagonists of the book lie and deceive for their own purposes. Celaena comments that the royal court has “too many secrets and tangled webs” (93), and the King of Adarlan is the prime example. Even the king’s most loyal followers don’t know his plans, especially regarding the Wyrdkeys and the legions he’s been gathering. Celaena’s lies stem from good intentions; the king, however, lies and deceives to amass further power. Archer, too, deceives others for malevolent reasons. He kidnaps Chaol to get Celaena out of the castle so he can orchestrate Nehemia’s murder; he also uses this incident to shatter Celaena’s relationship with Chaol, as it is Archer who reveals that Chaol knew Nehemia was in danger. Archer preys on Celaena’s desire for honesty, claiming he kidnapped Chaol so Celaena could see who Chaol really was. When Archer confesses to being behind Nehemia’s murder, he again justifies his actions, saying, “I killed her for our sake. […] She would have ruined us. And now that you can open portals without the keys, think of what we could do. Think, Celaena” (387). Even his honesty is tainted with deception and manipulation. Like the king, Archer has his own plans and doesn’t hesitate to weaponize both lies and honesty to achieve his goals.